A PDF inbox that summarises itself: Google Drive, n8n and an LLM (free workflow)

Description and use

An automated process that, when a PDF is added to a Google Drive folder, creates a Google Doc summarizing the document with key facts, page numbers, and required actions, using Apify for conversion and an LLM for summarization.

Problem

Teams often have PDFs that are never read; the goal is to automatically summarize new PDFs in a Google Drive folder.

Outcome

The workflow automatically creates a summarized Google Doc for each PDF added to the inbox, including key facts, page numbers, and required actions, with minimal manual intervention.

Workflow

• 1. Google Drive Trigger polls the "PDF inbox" folder every minute. 2. Trigger sends file URL and name to a webhook. 3. Webhook forwards data to the Apify "Document to Markdown" actor via HTTP request. 4. Actor converts PDF to Markdown, preserving tables and inserting <!-- Page N --> markers. 5. If conversion succeeds, an LLM chain (gpt‑5‑mini) summarizes the Markdown. 6. Summary, source metadata, and full Markdown are inserted into a new Google Doc. 7. If conversion fails, the file and error are logged and no charge is incurred.

Evidence

Drop a file into a Google Drive folder, and a minute later there is a Google Doc next to it that says what the document is, lists the key facts with page numbers, and says whether anyone has to do something.

Source

The Actor runs in the cloud and downloads files by URL. It never sees your Google account.

Source

The conversion took 0.9 seconds; the whole run, including container start, about 10 seconds.

Source

$1.50 per 1,000 pages with a text layer, +$5 per 1,000 for pages that need OCR, up to 25 % less on higher Apify plans.

Source